The Philippine Army and U.S. Army Pacific soldiers continued to bolster their interoperability in the series of Exercise Salaknib subject matter expert exchanges (SMEEs) in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija on March 16, 2023.
Soldiers from the 99th Infantry Battalion trained side by side in the use of extended-range mortars with the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, and 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the U.S. Army at the Special Forces School. Meanwhile, combat engineers from the 51st Engineer Brigade placed concertina wires as part of the counter-mobility (wire obstacle emplacement) exercise at the 1st Brigade Combat Team (1BCT) Demonstration Range.
Moreover, U.S. Army aviators conducted lectures on 9-Line Medevac Request to personnel of the Aeromedevac Platoon, Army Aviation Regiment and Office of the Army Chief Nurse at the Aviation Tikas Hangar. Training audiences from both armies also continued the subject matter expert exchange on Command and Control Communications, and Cyber Systems (C4S) at the 1BCT's headquarters.
The first phase of Exercise Salaknib, which will conclude on April 4, 2023, is an Army-to-Army training between PA and USARPAC. The ongoing exercises involve around 3,000 soldiers from USARPAC's 25th Infantry Division and PA's 5th Infantry Division, 7th Infantry Division and 1st Brigade Combat Team training side by side in a spectrum of military operations. The exercise's second phase is slated for the second quarter of the year.
Photos from the Philippine Army